Friday, December 12, 2014

Well I suppose it’s time to talk about the Seattle Half
Marathon, which was a couple weeks ago.Kind of a crazy few weeks, but it was such a fun race it needs to be
written about! :)

A couple weeks prior, Mac told me I needed to run the race
myself and see how I did.Which is good,
but also kind of scary!She has always
been there with me, and it has allowed me to focus on having a good time and
running it with a friend.We’ve both
gotten PRs in the process, but it was a lot easier to just think about having
fun that focus on numbers.So, this time
did feel different.

I initially decided I would shoot for 1:45.That was my 13.1 PR, which was from Skagit
Flats (pancake-flat course) so if I could manage the same time at Seattle (very
hilly), then I would be happily impressed.But of course, that’s never enough, and somehow 1:40 worked its way in
my head—just because it’s a nice round number, I think.Anyway, I spent a lot of time thinking about
it and going over the math and trying to figure out if that was actually
do-able or not.I’ve run the distance
and run fast enough, but never at the same time (and also never on hills)…and I
didn’t want to set unrealistic expectations only to be disappointed, when
really a 1:45 was a perfectly reasonable stretch of a goal.Besides, I could shoot for the 7:38/mi pretty
easily (needed for 1:40), but then you always run a little further on the course,
etc etc etc so needed to account for that so I figured 7:28ish… all in all, I was
thinking about it a lot and trying to balance my eagerness to really push
myself hard, along with still have fun and manage reasonable, physical
expectations.

I finally I would go for 1:45 (8:00min/mi with hills sounded
reasonable) and would be super happy with that, but would push it and see how
close to 1:40 I could get (assuming it felt alright).Then of course, the night before the race (as
I was procrastinating and NOT packing my stuff) Kyle texted me to wish me
luck..and told me to run a 1:40.Well,
shoot.Now that someone ELSE is putting
it in my head again…Aftera quick pep talk from him, consisting of both
numbers/logic and friendly encouragement (my friends know me so well), I
figured sure, I’ll shoot for it!And if nothing
else, at least I tried.The plan was to
take it mile-by-mile and try to stay on pace one mile at a time.I needed a 7:35/mi (for the 13.1 mile
distance) and would rack up as much “extra” in the beginning as possible.I remembered the first few miles were
slightly downhill, and it’s always easy to get a little extra speed at the
beginning, so gaining any extra time would be perfect and I wouldn’t have to
worry too much if I slowed a little with the hills at the end.Plan in place, it was finally time to get to
bed.

The next morning was early—and COLD.I think it was 17F when I got up, and I think
temperature in Seattle at race time was up to 24F.Did I mention COLD?We picked up MacBeth and met Kyle there, and
basically spent the time waiting trying to not freeze.Soon enough, it was time to get rid of the
puffy jackets and mylar (sad…), so Mac and I pushed our way to the start
line.Then it was REALLY cold.My toes were completely numb, and really just
needed to get moving!I saw the 1:45 and
1:35 pace groups were right ahead of me, and right next to each other, so
figured I’d keep an eye out and try work out positioning from there.

After a pretty underwhelming countdown, we were off!No horn or anything which was odd, but
suddenly everyone was moving so—ok, guess it’s time to go!I quickly tried to weave and navigate the
first few blocks, which is always tough… but managed it ok.I was greatful that I had remembered the
first few miles correctly—it really is mostly all a gradual downhill.Not steep enough that you really feel like you’re
going downhill, but enough that it definitely speeds you up. I even ran a 6:45 for a mile!!I was very conscious of gauging how I felt,
because I did NOT want to burn out later, but everything felt in check so I tried
not to stress it too much.

My toes were still number.It hurt to run.They slowly began
to thaw, but as feeling returned, it was a pins and needles feeling.Not pleasant.Spoiler alert: it took about 5 or 6 miles for them to thaw out
completely and stop hurting!

Anyway, we came up to the big overpass which is the first
real hill.Not bad.It’s long and gradual and intimidating
looking, but luckily it’s so early that it didn’t bother me.I kept sighting people and then passing them,
which was nice…of course, some people went BLAZING past me.Oh well. Still on pace.Even with the big hill, I was around a 7:35
so just right.

The I-90 tunnel was next.Bleh.Luckily it wasn’t nearly as
humid, but still..yuck.No GPS either,
so just kept running and tried to match the speed of people around me, knowing
I could adjust when we got out.That’s
when I realized that I had just about caught up to the 1:35 group, which was
right ahead of me!I considered pushing
it ot meet up with them, but then remembered that just 24 hours ago I was
thinking 1:40 was a huge stretch, and figured it would be better to hit 1:40
than to try for 1:35 and pay for it.When we got out of the tunnel I kept them in my sights for a while, but
eventually they got away—and I let them go.(I found out later that my cousin was actually the pacer for that
group!If only I had known.I definitely would have caught up and tried
to run with him if I had known it was him!Oh well.)

Running along the lake was nice.The sun was finally coming out and it was
gorgeous!Overall I was a lot less cold
and unzipped my jacket just a little..but it definitely was not warm.I kept tabs on everyone around me, kept tabs
on my pace (still looking good), kept tabs on how I felt..really tried to play
it safe.Around halfway done with the
race at this point, and while it wasn’t super effortless, I knew that I wasn’t
going to run out of gas just yet, so that was encouraging. But, there was still
on giant hill and then the hills in the arboretum coming up…

And, there was the big hill!In all honesty, this was the only hill I truly remembered from last
year.It’s a short, VERY steep hill…and
then goes a round a corner and gradually continues up for a long time.It’s deceptive, but also annoying because you
use up energy on the super steep part at the beginning, but then you have a
long way to go before you get any time to recover.I managed it ok, though.Tried to be smart, and not push it super hard…I
knew I could push it on the downhill.

The arboretum was next.I knew there were hills there but honestly didn’t remember much of them,
so figured they couldn’t be too terrible.Turns out, yes, there are a whole lot of hills…and some are a little
steeper and its’ very repetitive up and down..but I don’t know, still not
terrible.Thinking back, I don’t
remember any hugely terrible ones, I think because they are at least relatively
short so there is always a downhill coming up to look forward to :) There was
one photographer on one hill that was awesome…all alone in the arboretum, and
there he is, sitting there yelling “woah, yeah, you look AWESOME!GREAT JOB, you are KILLING IT!Looking AMAZING, you’re like a model!” etc
etc etc.It was soooo over the top that
it just made everyone smile and laugh—which is brilliant, because then you got
good photos.So, that was fun.

The last few miles got tough, as expected.It seems so far away, since you can see the
space needle waaaay off in the distance and you know that’s where you’re
headed, but you know there’s only about 3 miles to go.Plus there are still hills.And it just seems to go forever…I started doing the math near the end of the
arboretum, and knew I should hit 1:40 as long as I kept going, so that was a
lot of great encouragement for me.I was
feeling it, but I wasn’t dead just yet and it wasn’t TOO far to go!It’s funny, my legs rarely get very tired, it’s
usually just my heart rate and breathing that let me know I am going hard and struggling.But that’s manageable, so kept on going.Staying on pace, checking my garmin way too
often to see how much further….

Running through the streets of Seattle at the end feels like
forever.

Finally, finally, FINALLY, the last turn into the stadium
was in sight!Check the garmin—it was around
1:36 so YES, I was going to make 1:40 unless I fell over and died on the
spot!I could probably walk and make it,
so now I got to run and see if I could go UNDER 1:40…what?!I was shocked, and also super happy.As I ran into the stadium, I tripped in a
pothole and seriously almost fell and twisted my ankle (my ankles aren’t super
strong, and I felt it twist and give out, but THANK GOODNESS it didn’t give out
and I didn’t hurt it).Phew, crisis
averted!Running to the finish line was
great.I saw 1:38 on the finish line
clock, and just like that, I was ready to stop running!

It wasn’t until after I had gotten my medal/water/mylar and
found Allen and had time to really realize I was done…that I realized I had
pushed it.Which was a great
feeling.Probably could have pushed it
more ;) but I had pushed it none the less.My chest was tight (I think from just all the cold air) and I had
trouble focusing on too many things at once so…decided to focus on
breathing.Finally started feeling
better and headed over to cheer on Mac as she finished.

Overall, such a fun race!I am so stocked on my 1:37:59 (officially haha), and so glad that
everyone encouraged me and pushed me to go for it. :)And I think the BEST part was rushing over to
Mac when she finished, and Kyle must have already told her because before I could
even get to her she was yelling “BADASS! Awesome job!”Barely finished her on race, and she was
already happy about mine!She is like
the epitome of badass in my mind, so it was such a compliment and just really
sweet.Icing on the cake.She had a great run too, solid time and it
was a beautiful day so all-around good times.The giant breakfast festivities afterwards weren’t bad, either ;)

Anyway, it was an amazing way to end 2014.I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: the
bike will always be my #1 love, but this year was truly a year for
running.From running my first marathon
in May, to seeing huge improvements and speed (both in tris and also just long
runs), I feel like I have really “grown” as a runner a lot this year.I’ve learned so much about how my body feels
and what it needs and how it reacts, and when to push it (and just how far it
really can be pushed).You wouldn’t there
there’s too much to “learn” about running, but I have definitely learned!The fact that my VO2 results confirm that I’m
stronger running that on the bike kinda sealed the deal on the “2014 was all about
running” front.Go figure.I’ve had such a fun time smashing goals this
year, and now more huge goals for next year, for sure. Only a few more weeks to take advantage of loose, no-plans training..then it's time to buckle down and really focus in on a little somethign happening Juen 28th, 2015.... ;)

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

So, what have I been up to?Not too much, really.I did try
cyclocross—that is one crazy sport!I’ve
done two races now and wow, it has definitely shown me my bike handling skills
could use some work (especially in the mud, which I already knew I was afraid
of).It has certainly been a blast,
though.Not sure how far I’ll pursue it,
I almost feel like I SHOULD like it more than I do, but on the other hand I do
have a really fun time so..who knows.If
nothing else, it has been a great little experience trying something new for
now.

Otherwise, trying to maintain some level of fitness, running
and biking a as much as I can during the week without doing anything
crazy.The time change (and shorter days
overall) has been making it difficult, and now it’s just plain cold!Luckily, I can deal with it running as long
as I can find a time to go during the day, and there’s always the trainer ;)

Officially signed up for the Seattle half marathon, so that’s
good to have something “coming up.”I’m
pretty happy with my run right now, I think it’s definitely my strength so
figure I may as well try to work on that with the half coming up.

I’ve also gone and finally done all the testing at Cycle
Science Training—just waiting for my official “results” report.VO2 and lactate on the bike and the run, max
watt, max cadence, FTP…all sorts of stuff.From just the raw data I saw I’m pretty happy with the numbers, but
honestly the coolest part has just been seeing all these things being applied
and really understanding what various things correspond to (oh, went anaerobic,
oh yes, that’s exactly the moment where my legs died).They are also super knowledgeable and
explained the biomechanical/chemistry behind things which I found really
interesting as well.Overall, a great experience.Just want to see all the final data now! :)

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Nike Women’s Half Marathon was a week ago, and it was fun.Not too much to say about it: spent a great
weekend with the girls in San Francisco, then ran for 13.1 miles.Good times.:)Bummed it was so foggy and didn’t
get to see any of the views (I had no idea we ran right by the Golden Gate
Bridge…) but I guess it made for good running weather..?

Now I’m kind of stalling, though.I know it’s ok, I know this is expected..but I am getting restless and
feel lazy!I think I’ll do the Seattle
Half Marathon at the end of November, so that’ll be my next “thing” to look
forward to, and I guess I’ll keep trying to run and bike during the week.Still no pool.Not going to lie, I really do not miss
swimming..but I am getting anxious about how much it’s going to suck to start
again!

I’ve gone in for my first round of testing with Cycle Science Training,
which was pretty neat.Did V02/lactate
and some max wattage test or something on the bike.This week will be running, and then one more
time for FTP and stuff like that on the bike.It will be interesting to see all the results!Just from the first day, they seemed politely
impressed and nice about my results haha.We’ll see :) Mostly I just think it’s really cool to see the numbers and
relate them to myself… I “know” what the lactate thresehold means and what it
does, but seeing the data real-time, and feeling my legs absolutely die right
when the numbers showed it..pretty cool :)

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Taper week is boring!!!And I actually AM trying to taper!..kinda. This week I've done a couple of shorter runs (shorter and slower), and GASP a full rest day! Some spinning tonight, and maybe a quick little run tomorrow before flying down to SF for the Nike Women's Half Marathon.I also took is pretty easy last week, so I feel really lazy right about now. And it's "only" a half marathon so I feel like this is all silly and not very necessary..but hey, doesn't hurt to try to actually follow it for once, right? I have a couple months to kinda chill out and not stress about following any particular schedule, and just focus on maintaining everything and relaxing..so I figure I need to appreciate it and try to enjoy it. :) I feel a little guilty..but I also don't feel like i NEED to be doing a ton more. I feel like I should, but my body is kinda ok with being lazy so just tryign to soak it up and give it the rest. Certainly going to start doing a lot more work in just a few months... ;)

Monday, October 13, 2014

Things have been fairly relaxed lately, which I guess is
good.Istill need a pool, and am kind of
anxious about losing all this time swimming and having to start over..but I don’t
exactlymiss swimming itself ;)
Hopefully this week or next I’ll have a pool again.

Nike Women’s Half Marathon is this weekend, which is
exciting!I’m looking forward to travelling
and having fun with the girls...and running, of course.It feels weird having just this coming up,
although I’m really trying to do what you’re “supposed” to do and cut down the volume/intensity
and taper a bit.I feel lazy.Oh well…

Got back on the mountain bike yesterday, for the first time
in probably a month (aside from downhilling in Whistler the previous weekend
which was AMAZING!).Really looking
forward to being able to mountain bike more this winter.The woods make me happy :)Plus, I need to get back and conquer that
drop/step-up (where I broke my collarbone) before December 31st!!!Definitely excited to hang out and play in
the woods on a bike.Summer is definitely
over, time for fall and wintery weather!

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

It’s a little strange now, not having a very set plan.It’s nice to take advantage of a very
relaxed, moldable schedule..and I know I need to keep taking advantage of the
opportunity, because things will get much stricter again in a few months :)

I took a week off of swimming, just because I could.It was nice to not swim, since I hate it..but
I also kinda missed it.I missed getting
up early and feeling good when I was at work at 730am and already got one
workout in.I missed getting a second
workout in later in the day!And I missed
feeling like my arms were a little better than just clumps of arm flab ;)So, back to the pool today..and while I definitely
still don’t like swimming, I still kind of enjoyed it.At least, in the sense that I was back to
normal and getting my swim in in the morning and just feeling good.

Go figure, that’s my last swim for a while.No more pro club membership with me.Looking into other options, and now I really
need to get it sorted out.Oops… :P

Friday, September 26, 2014

It’s been another chill week..and now I finally have a few weeks to get
back into the groove!September was
busy, and while we still have things booked almost every week, the Nike Women’s
Half Marathon in mid-October is the only real “event” to worry about right now.It’s also super rainy now, so maybe it’s good
that all I need to do is really think about running right now. J

That being said… last weekend was gorgeous!And fitting, too, as it was the Kirkland
triathlon and the weather was perfect.Last tri of the season, and it was also my very first triathlon last
year!It was a lot of fun being able to
now do one where I already knew the course and how things worked, and see the comparison
to last year.

I had way too much energy in the morning.Megan spent the night so that we could
carpool over, but maybe having someone else around just made me more awake and
energetic.I was super hot with my big
jacket, I was terrified and intimidated by everyone (why? No idea), I wouldn’t
stop talking..man.After selecting our
racks (on the end, but way at the wrong side..oh well) and setting up, it was
time for the wetsuits.I put it off as
much as I could, since my stomach was really upset that morning, but finally
figured to suck it up and put it on.Once that was out of the way, it was time for the pre-race meeting.Let’s just say that was pointless, since we
couldn’t see any of the buoys and couldn’t hear the guy talking.After a really pointless long time of
standing there wondering what was being said, we were pushed back and Megan and
I got a chance to walk out on the dock and actually SEE the course (shocking),
and get in the water a bit—surprisingly the water was super warm, it was actualy
warmer to be in the water than out of it! Crazy.

Anyway.We started shuffling
forward, and it seemed a whole lot sooner than expected, but we were suddenly
in the water and waiting for the gun.I
positioned myself on the outside edge, and wasn’t really paying attention, when
suddenly the horn blew annnnd I guess I had to get going!

The water was rough.Really
rough.Rougher than I remember last year
and rougher than anything I swam in this year.I swallowed a lot of water.I had
to stop a couple times because I had water in my lungs.So annoying!Truthfully, the swim was awful.Aside from all the water going down my throat, there were people that
kept kicking me, and I couldn’t get around them..and my wetsuit felt super
tight around my neck.I kept telling
myself it was a short swim, if I could do it last year I could do it this
year..but it was tough.I’m not sure why
it was so much harder (the 1500m last weekend seemed a whole lot easier) but..whatever.I checked my watch as I (FINALLY) got out of
the water and it turns out I was right about where I had been expecting/hoping,
so I tried to shake it off and focus on what was next.

The bike was good.I decided to
use my road bike, since the course has lots of hills and 1) the gearing is
better for climbing on the road bike, and 2) I am still terrified of going
downhill on my tri bike.I was
immediately happy with my decision!I
passed a lot of people going uphill, including a LOT of people on tri
bikes.I also knew that I would not have
been able to go down this hills on the tri bike (without slowing down a LOT),
because there were a few steep ones, and the really long one at the end
reminded me SO much of the road I crashed on.I started getting nervous on the road bike even, but managed to keep it
under control :)The second lap was good
too, I tried to just go fast and not worry too much about saving my legs—I figured
I could suffer anything for a 5k.It
paid off, I ended up having the fastest bike time of all the females!:)Not
important, but good re-affirmation about me and my bike.<3yay bike!

And then it was on to the run.I
took a lot of time in transition, at least it felt like that.Again, waited until the last minute to take
my helmet off.Why do I do that?!Anyway, after what felt like forever, I was
off.I immediately felt the normal
what-the-heck feeling in mylegs, and
tried to remind myself to just go hard.5k and I was done!There was a
girl in front of my for the first mile or so who was FAST, and it was a
struggle just to keep up with her.I
considered easing up and letting her go…but no, I decided to just try to stay
with her, and worry about nothing else.It was good, since she kept pulling me along!Near the halfway, there is a STEEP HILL.It’s not just a steep hill, it’s like a
vertical wall. Thankfully, I was at
least expecting it this year—and I was STILL surprised at just how steep it
was!This is where I finally passed that
girl.She was speedy quick everywhere
else but barely moving up hill.I
expected her to catch up and pass me after that, but I never saw her again.

Anyway, the way back was nice.A
lot more downhill than up, and I was truly coming to the home stretch.I was also finally feeling more normal while
running.The last mile was getting tough
because I wanted to push it, and I distinctly remember telling myself I could breathe
once I got to the finish line..so go faster!I saw Megan on her way out on the run, which was also good to see a
friendly face.

As I rounded a corner, coming to the last 50m with the finish line up
ahead, I heard a guy running up behind me.Which is no big deal, until some spectator saw us, and yelled “DON’T LET
HIM PASS YOU!” at me.Thanks, dude.Both of us kicked it up, and it was an
all-out, neck-to-neck sprint at the end.Suddenly the finish seemed a whole lot further away, and I felt myself
ease up a little—but then I realized the guy was also still not past me yet,
and hey!This was the last race!It was like 20 feet away!Why the heck was I giving up??!So I snapped out of it, and pushed it hard to
finish.

At the finish, the guy I was running against and I high-fived.What a great way to end!No slacking here.Overall, it was a great race.Lots of fun, and it was so wonderful to be
able to compare and realize how much I’ve learned in the past year!I am thankful to so many people for all their
help and support and encouragement this year, and I was definitely feeling it
then.

It was also really fun to be able to wait at the finish line and cheer
Megan in!Always more fun with
friends.She had a great race too, and
it’ll be fun to see where this whole journey takes her J

In the end, I ended up winning my age group (well, I guess second but the
girl who was before me finished 2nd overall, so…).And 5th female overall!Which to me was super awesome and still kind
of shocking.I know placement isn’t
really important and can depend on so much, but I guess it just makes me
realize that I can push myself.And that
I should continue to push myself JMost importantly, I improved my time over
last year, by about 11 minutes!Each leg
was faster, and it added up.So,
definitely happy about that!Looking forward
to an even better year next year—although now I have something much bigger to
work towards…Ironman!!To say I am excited is an understatement.

Friday, September 19, 2014

I have been so worn down lately!I guess a half marathon one weekend and an Olympic
tri the next weekend does that to me.Funny, because I didn’t feel particularly extra-tired after either of
those (in fact I thought I could have gone faster in the triathlon) but here I
am..totally uninspired and tired this week.

In any case, it’s as good a time as any to go over the Black
Diamond Olympic.In short: soooo much
fun!

I’ll be honest.I was
pretty nervous going into it.This was
my chance to re-do an Olympic distance, and prove a lot to myself after Milwaukee.On the one hand, I was basically guaranteed
to do better unless something catastrophic happned (if nothing else, I sure as
heck would have my flat kit with me so even if I got a flat, it would be
better).But who knows?!Rationally,
I knew things would be fine, but I was still really nervous; yes I had done it
before, but I essentially had big long 36 minute break in the middle of it, so
what would it really be like to not stop?!

Anyway, we got there bright and early.And when I say “bright and early,” I mean it
was really early and really, REALLY freezing cold.After quickly grabbing my packet and setting
up, we went back to the truck and tried to warm up a little.It was cold.Transition closed at 8:40, there was a meeting supposed to be taking
place at 8:45, and my wave started at 9:20.So, at around 8:25, I headed back to double-check (triple- and quadruple-check)
my gear and grab my wetsuit.Thankfully,
the sun was coming up over the treeline by then, and while the shade was still
very cold, the sunlight was actually warm!I sat on the grass and listened to the guy talking (and zoned out, and
kept realize I should really be paying attention because he’s talking about
important information about a weird spot on the bike course that people get
confused about but oh wait, what?That’s
right.Pay attention), and tried to
relax.

At 9am, the first wave went off!It was kind of neat that they had so many
events going on—a sprint tri (individuals and relays), the Olympic (also
individuals and relays) as well as a half-marathon!Of course this also made things a little
hectic, and prevented Allen from seeing me in certain spots because different courses
crossed each other…but still, led to a pretty festive atmosphere and a crowd.I think the first wave was the sprint men,
and I decided it was time to accept the inevitable and wriggle into my wetsuit.

One mistake in Milwaukee was getting too panicked before the
swim, partially due to putting off getting on the wetsuit for too long.So I was (relatively) happy just to have it
on and have enough time to stand around and be bored and wish I weren’t wearing
it! :)We watched the fast men doing the
sprint finish, watched a few more waves going off…finally it was time to head
to the water.Mistake #2 avoided, get to
the water with plenty of time and don’t be confused!

We all lined up, waist-deep in the water, in one giant line spreading
out across the water’s edge.I think I was
one of the few people who actually was behind someone, but I didn’t want to
feel like I was right up in the front, and also tried to move to the left half
(counter-clockwise swim, so this would give me a wide angle and hopefully avoid
the number of people coming into me).I don’t
really know what goes through my head as I wait to start the swim..mostly I think
I try not to think about anything at all, and just focus on being as relaxed as
possible.

And we were off!Deep
Lake (yes, I know) really is a gorgeous lake, and the morning sun made it even
prettier.It was a lot more calming than
any other open water swim I’ve done, I think the size of the lake and the way
the course was laid out… you were never very far from the shore, but not too
close to feel claustrophobic.Anyway, I
quickly noticed that I was swimming..and still swimming..and there were still
people around me!As we neared the first
buoy, I was still in pretty big group, which means I was still getting kicked
and grabbed and rammed into a lot.But I
wasn’t falling behind quite as quickly!That’s when I realized—in Milwaukee, it was faster people.I make up time on the bike and run and suffer
on the swim, but everyone in Milwaukee was also fast swimmers so I was dropped
almost immediately.This was a much more
normal group of people like me, and while they were certainly pulling ahead, I was
also ahead of a handful of people as well.I did notice myself getting short of breath and taking too many breaths,
so I had to focus on calming down and regulating my breaths and strokes..but
after that, I settled into a good rhythm.I’m so glad that I can breathe equally-comfortably on either side,
because I did end up changing which side I was breathing on a lot (switching every
other stroke, only to one side, etc), but that was no problem.As I neared the third buoy (two circles around
4 buoys total), I noticed there were a couple of red caps I was catching up to
and passing!These were the guys that
started 5 minutes before me.Who knows
what happened or why they were behind, but it was so weird!

The rest of the swim was fairly uneventful.It got kinda boring.I think about the strangest things while
swimming.Not really about anything in particular,
just random thoughts.Then I started
thinking about the how random all my thoughts were, but I couldn’t concentrate
on that either.And then, finally, there
was the swim exit!I went as far as I could
until I saw the bottom, got up and ran the heck out of that water!I looked down at my watch as I was running to
transition and saw it just tick 34 minutes.Woohoo, that means the swim was 33-something which is about the same as
Milwaukee (except this was WAYYYY less stressful and terrifying), and is pretty
darn amazing for me.I also felt my
heart rate skyrocket (out of the water, go go go go go!) and had to remind
myself to calm down.Again.

Stripped off the wetsuit, threw on my
shoes/glasses/helmet/garmin, grabbed a shot block and then one more for good
measure, and I was out of there.Good riddance,
lake!Time to see how the bike felt.

I was nervous.My
bike hasn’t been quite right ever since crashing—either having actual
mechanical problems, or just not feeling like it was performing quite
right.The day before the race, I had to
go get the front wheel re-trued.AGAIN.Because two rides after the
last time it was trued, it was already wobbling like crazy.Not exactly the most confidence-inspiring thing
ever.

I can sum up the entire bike like this: awesome.I loved the course, no real hills just some rolling
terrain.I still passed plenty of people
going uphill, and even some people going down.Passing people with disk wheels and aero helmets is the best :)I even passed a lot of guys, which was extra
satisfying—starting ahead of me, and undoubtedly a lot faster swimmers.Best of all, my bike felt great!There were some weird shifting things going
on but nothing too troublesome. I felt confident on the bike and the angles of
the downhill was just right—I’m still really scared to go down hills at certain
gradients, but I never felt scared on the course.I kept thinking to myself how good it felt,
and how happy I was, and how much fu I was having!Because that’s what it was—FUN.

As it turns out, I was in 116th place after the swim.Out of ~150 people.After the bike, I had moved up to 47th.Not too shabby.Time to run.

I got off the bike, swapped to my running shoes, grabbed a
gu and headed out.Allen met me on the
run out, and yelled something about “see you in 30 minutes!”I laughed.I think everyone else who was running out at the same time thought I was
crazy, too.Sorry buddy, but a 30 minute
10k isn’t going to happen.

Anyway, I felt good.I always run too fast off the bike, but at least I know it and figured I
may as well do what I could as long as I didn’t wear myself out.The run course was also pretty cool, parts
were weird on a big road, but then a long out and back on a semi-private road
was nice because it was just runners and you could see people.I counted about 4 or 5 girls ahead of me, so I
knew roughly where I was (knowing there were likely a few more I didn’t see
right then).I still managed to pass a
bunch of people, which was kind of cool.My legs felt good, and I was keeping a 7:45 pace fairly easily, and
pushed it when I could down hills, etc.I still kept a close watch on how I actually felt,because I didn’t want to tire out and slow
down at the end, but there were no signs of over-exertion so I kept at it.Yes I was pushing it, but there was still
some left in the tank.

The last mile-ish is a loop around the lake.I loved that!Such a fun change, and more varied terrain.This meant there were a couple steep little
hills, and also way less people (at least, you couldn’t see them in front of
you), but I had my eyes one girl off in the distance.I realized I was slowly, slowly gaining on
her, and kept at it with about half a mile to go.I got past her, and kept sprinting.I noticed I was looking at my garmin a lot,
to see how much further until the end; I wasn’t really slowing down toooo much
yet, but I was definitely ready to get to the finish line!With maybe a quarter mile to go, and there
was another girl!She was definitely
tiring out, but I had all sorts of energy (of the “just get to the end so you
can stop” variety) so I ran as hard as I could to pass her and then keep my
speed up (it’s my biggest fear to pass someone and then have them pass me again
haha).At this point I just wanted to
pass people in order to incentivize me to keep running hard and finish as fast
as I could, and it worked.

The finish line totally sneaks up on you, and suddenly I was
off the trail and the finish line was right there!I was actually really surprised, and saw the clock
was at 2:56-ish…considering my wave started 20 minutes after the official
start, that put me around 2:36 which was basically exactly what I was shooting
for!(2:40 was my goal I would be happy
with, and 2:30 was my go-as-hard-as-you-can-and-maybe-you-might-live goal)Awesome :)

Post-race food was awesome—strawberry shortcake!Always delicious, but it was
extra-amazingly-delicious after racing.Also ended up finishing first in my age group and 8th female
overall, so that was super cool!So
happy I was able to go hard and finish strong.It really was a fun day, I couldn’t get over the fact that I was just
enjoying myself and having so much fun.Can’t wait for the next one!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

On Sunday, I did the Skagit Flats Half Marathon!Last year, this race was my very first half
marathon, which I decided to do on a whim about 5 days beforehand.Last year, I was really just starting my
whole running journey, and I know I have come really far since then.So, I was really excited to run it again and
kind of compare!

On the one hand, I know I am a much better runner now, and know a lot
more about how I feel and how/when to push myself, as well as have a lot more
confidence in myself (if I can run a marathon, I don’t need to be so worried
about a half).That being said, I also knew
I was putting pressure on myself, because I knew that I “should” be faster, but
I also knew I ran pretty well last year anyway, so who knows.

The day started out early, that’s for sure.4:45am, or something like that.This year, though, I am getting up at 5am to
swim three times a week, so it really wasn’t quite as terrible (except this was
a weekend! Grr)…Drove up with Mac,
Katie and Megan, tried to wake up, etc etc etc… I was really not feeling
it.I just did not feel like running—mentally
or physically.Nevertheless, I got ready
and laced up.Mac was shooting for a
1:45 (or less), so I figured I’d run with her... last year, we finished in
1:46:20 (which was my 13.1 PR), so a 1:45 goal would beat that.It also meant a sub-7min/mile average but…ehh,
if there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s that I can easily push to go
faster when I’m actually racing, and that just because training feels one way,
an actual race is always different.

After standing in line for the porta-potty one last time, I gave up
(just a few people to go!) because they were about to start.At that point, I was more nervous about the race
starting than anything else, so I crossed my fingers that everything would be
ok (it was).

And suddenly, we were off!As
always, it was crowded and we got swept up for a bit. After a mile or so, it
kinda normalized and people found their paces.After a couple miles, as we also settled into a pace, we were hitting
7:40-7:50, which was perfect.The sun
was coming out and I was worried it would get super-hot out, but luckily, the
real heat held off.At around mile 5,
Mac and I agreed we were going a comfy pace and that so far, so good!

The second we turned around and head back for the second half, we were
reminded that there was a headwind.Funny, I didn’t feel a tailwind on the way out!Oh well.We were still hitting 7:50, creeping up to 8, but it wasn’t quite as
easy.No worries though; again, we both
agreed that it felt good, and there was certainly plenty left in the tank to
push it later.No point it using up that
energy now.

Hitting the mile 10 mark is always nice.Somehow, being in the double digits sounds a
whole lot closer.Plus, now it’s only 3.1
to go!I can do anything for 5k,
right?We kept at it, and my legs were
certainly starting to feel a lot heavier than before, but nothing too bad or
unusual.We saw friends on course (the
best part of an out-and back like that is seeing so many people!Kind of a good distraction), and had lots of
people (mostly spectators) comment on our neon outfits :).Right after mile 11, I could feel side ache
coming on, just a minor irritation and I was hoping it wouldn’t turn into
anything more.As I turned to joke
about it to Mac, she suddenly stopped abruptly, with HER ab hurting (but
obviously a lot more).We stopped a few
seconds.We walked a little.We cautiously started running a bit.We stopped again.I think she said something about me going on
but there’s no way I was going to leave her behind now; we were so close, kinda
pointless and I knew she would be able to start running again soon enough.

The next time we started running, we stayed running.A little easier, but really not a huge deal
at this point.Thanks to our strong pace
at the beginning, we were well on track, and even with the stopping, we finished
in exactly 1:45:00!Awesome.So we would have finished about a minute or
so faster without that, but definitely not complaining.The most important part was being able to
jump back into it after that setback, and finish, AND we both still got PRs out
of the deal!It’s always so much more
fun to run and finish with a friend, and this time was no different.There’s just something different about going
through the whole race together and sharing it :)

We hung out and lay out on the grass by the finish line (comfiest spot
ever), and finally met up with Katie, and then Megan.Turns out Megan also had some serious
cramping issues, but she got through it like a champ.We waited and watched Francis finish too,
since he was doing the full marathon…he finished his very first marathon in 3
hours and a couple seconds.Insane!

All in all, it was a great morning of running.I wasn’t very excited about it, but it turned
out great, and once I got moving, I was totally into it—a good lesson for next
time.Plus, running with friends is
always better!

Now I’m trying to find the balance between taking it easy, and being
ready for the next couple weeks:Black
Diamond Olympic this Sunday, and Kirkland Sprint the following Sunday.Oh boy.Need to sleep!

Thursday, September 4, 2014

So weird. Got in the pool this morning and immediately, knew it was not my day to swim. My arms were totally dead. The hurt, and I just could not move them at all. I guess I did swim the last two days in a row, and had really pushed it. Felt kinda bad, since it was kind of a bad/wasted morning at the pool (shouold have/could have just slept), but still....I was kind of excited, though--that means that I actually WAS able to push it the last few days! And that is good! I've never felt like I was really working, since I was too busy not-drowning...so the fact that I can work enough that my arms are actually sore and need a break?! Kinda cool ;)

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Most notably, I decided to NOT do the Black Diamond long course (70.3)…
Well, Mac gave me the idea, and pointed out that if I just did the Olympic,
then I could also do the Skagit Flats half marathon (the weekend before) and
the Kirkland sprint (the week after), both of which I did last year so I really
want to do them again.

Plus, let’s be honest, training has not
been going well lately.Ever since that
crash, nothing has been normal—from recovering, to my tri bike issues, to silly
things like the pool being closed…it just hasn’t been happening the way I had
hoped.Granted, I’m still doing plenty,
but I mostly am not comfortable on my tri bike, especially for that
distance.And oh guess what!The spokes came undone the other day so I’m
tri-bike-less again.Ugh.I figure I can wing another Olympic distance
without too much practice on that bike, but I definitely want to have more
practice long rides before racing on that bike.

As an added bonus, now I can try to redeem myself and re-do an Olympic,
after the epic disaster at Nationals ;)(note: I don’t really consider it an epic disaster, but just go with it)

Anyway, this has left me a little lost, really.Yes, I’m still roughly following my schedule,
but I’m reallynot worried about the
bike distance/time during the week, since my race just basically got cut in
half.I’m trying to keep up the running
at least a bit, since I do have Skagit now, and have Nike coming up in October
so I’ll be focusing on more running soon enough.And I’m trying to keep up the swimming
because, let’s be honest, I need as much swim practice as I can possibly get.

Speaking of swimming, I almost feel like there is starting to be
improvement.In the pool, at least, when
I’m not freaking out with a wetsuit and open water.But I can sometimes get slightly better form,
and yesterday I was doing under a minute for 100 yards..which is slow, but for
ME, that’s totally hauling it.So that’s
kind of cool.I am also noticing that I’m
a little out of breath after some sets, which is kind of cool because it means I’m
actually able to push myself!So far, I’ve
been mostly trying to survive and not panic and keep moving, and it wasn’t much
of an actual aerobic workout.But, now I’m
a lot more comfortable and am doing better with the whole “breathing” thing and
consequently, I get to push it a little more!So that’s kind of cool JI really need to make sure I keep swimming a
lot over the winter, though.Maybe
someday I’ll improve.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

People keep asking how it was.It’s hard to answer.It
sucked.But I’m also super glad I did it,
and happy.

The whole thing was stressful.It started Thursday morning, before we even left, when my new wheels
finally arrived and I had to go pick them up and get the cassette swapped, etc
etc etc.We made it to the airport, and
our flight was delayed two hours, meaning we got in to Chicago at around 2am
local time.Got to the hotel, slept a
few hours, had to shuttle back to the airport to pick up the rental car...which
took a few hours because of all sorts of small, minor things which all
snowballed into huge delays.

We finally made it to Milwaukee, after traffic and construction and
detours and wrong turns.I wanted to be
down at the race area by then to get some swim practice in, but needed to get
my bike back together.No big deal,
right?Wrong.Everything went fine until we put the wheels
on—new wheels are wider than my old ones.Also not a big deal, because we can just open up the brakes so they fit,
right?Wrong.After messing with them and just making this
worse (and being starving since we hadn’t even since breakfast, and now it’s
too late to swim and we just need to get moving), we brought it down to bike
support at the race area.

One mechanic looked at it.Another did.And another.This guy was supposedly the “expert” and did
manage to make things a little better—able to ride, at least.The rear brake had about a hairs-width gab
between the rim and the brake, so any tiny movement would make it drag..but at
least the wheel was spinning.I had him
double-check my derailleur and the shifting, since I didn’t trust myself at
that point.Rode up and down the street
a couple times, and figured things felt fine.

Finally picked up my packet and chip.Finally got the bike racked.Finally was ready to relax.It
was not relaxing.At this point, nothing
had gone very smoothly at all, and I not exactly feeling confident about the
swim (ummmm the swim area looked HUGE) or the bike.Plus, we were hungry again.

Figuring there wasn’t much else to do there, we left and got
dinner.Got back to the hotel, actually
went to the pool and tried a couple laps but the pool was so crazy-short (not
exactly meant for swimming) that it was pretty pointless to try.I was trying to pay attention to my arms, and
do what Mac had explained to me earlier in the week, but was hard to do in such
limited space.Forget it—time for the
hot tub.

After prepping everything (and packing, since we were checking out of
the hotel in the morning), it was finally bed time.Luckily, I think I fell asleep pretty
quickly… running on just a few hours of sleep had its perks ;)

Race morning, I was feeling surprisingly rested.I certainly could have slept (a lot) more but
I was ready to go!I wore compression
socks overnight and my legs felt great; will need to do that more JAfter grabbing everything, we headed
downtown.

I set up transition.I
deliberated on where/how to put things.For the first time, I was NOT on the end, so I had to figure out the
best way to position things.As an
aside—transition was HUGE!I mean I knew
it would be, with thousands of athletes, but I knew I would get lost and have
trouble finding my bike after the swim.I actually kept getting lost and missing my bike just walking around
(the numbering made no sense to me…I’m not sure what my deal was).I borrowed someone’s pump, since of course I
didn’t have mine.I sliced open my
finger.Awesome.

I put my spares kit on my bike, as usual.I tried to rack my bike.I couldn’t.The combination of the silly race number + rack meant I couldn’t have my
little kit on the back like usual.I
considered my options: leave everything out and try to shove it in my back
pocket after the swim? Too bulky, I knew it wouldn’t fit (if I had been
prepared to do that, I could have bundled things up better; as it was, I just
had things shoved in my bag).Put the
bag somewhere else?I tried putting it
on the top tube, but it didn’t stay on very well and I wasn’t sure if it would
hit my legs, and mostly I was actually worried it would fall off while I was
riding..which was much scarier than anything else.

I went over to the edge of transition and discussed the situation with
Allen.We went back and forth.Finally, we decided I could probably just
leave the spare stuff behind—less to worry about.I joked to Allen that “now that I’m not
brining it, I’ll probably get a flat…”Famous last words.

Allen had me running back and forth a couple of times, checking a few
last-minute things with my bike/gear that he thought off, and I eventually
decided it was time to be done.Transition closed at 7:30am when the first wave went off…and my wave was
scheduled for 9:18am!

So we waited.We watched the
first wave, walked around the entire swim course (how is 1500m sooo long?!), used the porta-potty about five billion
times, ate a little, etc etc etc.Finally, it was time to get the wetsuit on.I decided to rush to the bathroom ooooone
last time (I was nervous, what can I say).As I was standing in line, a girl with a 25 on her leg (my age group)
was leaving and the guy she was with was saying “hurry, your group is
next!”I panicked and checked my
watch…it was right around 9am, so I should have a good 15-20 minutes.I got through the line, and made it back to
Allen, and he assured me everything was fine.But I started to get worried.There were so many people, and they were staging the groups so strangely
(to me) that I wasn’t really sure where I was supposed to go.I got the wetsuit on (looking like a drowning
fish all the while), then heard something
over the speakers about my age group.I
couldn’t catch what they said, but the fact that they said my age group, and it
was still early, freaked me out.I
pulled on the sleeves, scrambling, and Allen zipped me up and told me to
breaaaaathe.Apparently I was already
all red and panicked and suddenly, I was both terrified of the swim AND
terrified of NOT being on time, even though my watch said I had plenty of
time.I realized that standing there
trying to calm down was just making it worse, because I was suddenly more
worried and had a sinking suspicion that maybe my group was already starting! I
headed to the big starting area, and some lady saw my purple swim cap and
started saying “what, you’re in the water RIGHT NOW, GO” annnnnnd that’s when
my heart rate started going through the roof.When had they said anything?Why are there so many people?Get out of my way, I need to get to the
water!I can’t be done before I even
start!!!I ran through all the
crowds, pretty sure everyone thought I was crazy.Definitely got pushed around a lot.I tried to apologize.Whatever.Made it to the dock, and although basically the entire group was already
in the water, ready to go (only a couple people were still standing there,
waiting to jump in), I was there.I made
it.They didn’t start without me.

Now it was time to breathe.It
was only then that I realized just how completely panicky I was feeling—and it
had nothing to do with swimming itself.The announcer mentioned there was 3 minutes until the start, so I looked
around for Allen but had no idea where he was, but with so many people (and
with dirty goggles..AWESOME, way to go Rosanne, way to be prepared and check
your gear..not) I had no idea where he was.I felt super lost and out of place…everyone around me looked happy, as
if they were actually excited and enjoyed the water!I was mostly realizing I shouldn’t even be
there.So I spent the last 3 minutes
trying to calllllllllm down and breathe, and joking with one other girl who
shared the same swimming sentiments….and suddenly, we were off.

There’s not much to say about the swim, other than it felt like forever
and it was terrible.Right off the bat,
I freaked out.I really didn’t get
pushed around too much, a couple feet at the beginning and a little pushing,
but not bad at all (I was expecting worse).Starting way in the back and being a slowpoke that falls behind quickly
is a plus, I guess!There were 2 other
girls that I kind of swam in the vicinity of for most of the time, I think we
were the three last people in our group…mostly I just didn’t want to be the
last one, so I kept my eyes out.That,
and it was something to focus on and keep me moving forward.I split up the landmarks and buoys, and just
focused on getting to the next one..but I was also very aware of my stroke,
after the conversation with Mac about it.Suddenlynothing felt
right—trying to do what she said felt wrong, but then I could’nt figure out how
I “normally” swim, either…So I reverted
to my usual method of imagining exactly what Mac would say in that situation,
which is “just keep swimming!”At one
point, there was a kayak or paddle board or something off to my side that I
kept seeing out of the corner of my eye, and I actually just imagined it was
her out there, making me keep going.That helped.:)

Eventually, I made it.Eventually.Turns out, the swim
was something like 33 minutes, which is faster than what I was hoping (35min),
so somehow my frantic flailing propelled me.The second I got out of the water, I left it all behind.I was done with the swim, and now it was time
to have fun!It was as looong run to
transition but I was more than happy to make it.

And then I couldn’t find my bike…just as I suspected.I had made a mental note earlier that it was
actually closer than what I thought (again, the numbering was weird…it seemed
to skip a bunch of numbers).So I was
running along and I knew I had gone too far…but where was it?!I’m pretty sure I stood there turning in
circles for a few seconds, run back and forth a couple times..oh, there it is!No idea how I missed it.There were two bikes still on either side (I
think on the other side of the rack, for a different age group) so I must have
not seen it between their fancy discs. :P

In any case, I happily stripped off the bottom of my wetsuit, grabbed
everything, and ran off.I saw Allen on
the side while I was running out, and was happy he found me.Onto the bike and…go!

The first couple blocks navigated out to the street, so once I made it
to the main road, I got settled and tried to shift into a better gear.Time to ride!But, why does the chain feel funny?And what’s that noise, is that normal?Something felt just a little off, and I was worried that my brakes had
gotten knocked to the side.As I was
looking down, trying to see if it was the brakes or the derailleur….pffffffssstttt….yup, that’s my rear
tire.

I pulled over.I think I started
swearing a lot in my head.What..the..heck.Yes, upon
further investigation, that rear tire is most certainly, 100%, no doubt about
it, totally flat.

My flat kit is in Allen’s backpack.Why didn’t I bring it?!And how
the heck am I supposed to get bike support here?I stood around a little, trying to figure out
what to do, and a policeman saw me and came over.He asked if I was ok, and I said I was fine,
just had a flat and wasn’t sure how to get help.He went over to talk to a volunteer, who in
turn got on the phone.After a few
minutes (seemed like a whole lot of minutes, for a pretty quick phone call), I
was assured that bike support was on the way.Thank goodness!

So I waited.And waited.I passed the time by thinking about how
stupid I was to not bring my spare kit.I briefly considered giving up and not finishing, but then I realized
that all I had done so far was swim, and I did NOT fly 2,000 miles just to
swim.So, I quickly went into damage
control mode, and focused really hard on NOT getting upset.After all, I just came for the experience,
right?I had time goals, but I knew that
they were purely arbitrary and meant for me to use as motivation, not because I
had anything hinged on this race.But
with so many people going by..it was discouraging.

I conveniently got a flat 0.5 miles into the course, which meant that
not only was it on the out-and-back of the bike AND The run course, it was also
close enough that there were tons of spectators.I kept thinking “geez, someone here MUST have
a spare tube!”But, they mostly all just
ignored me.It was about a quarter mile
from the end of the run, so I saw everyone running by, pushing their hardest to
get to the end..and there I was, at the very beginning of the bike.

It really, really sucked.

Especially when pretty soon, the number of bikes going by went
down.I knew there weren’t too many
waves behind me, and I knew I swam slowly, so naturally, I began thinking that
obviously these were all the last bikers, and pretty soon I was going to be the
LAST PERSON ON THE COURSE.I tried not
to think about it.I just needed a tube
and some air….

Meanwhile, the volunteer and I took my tire off (and inspected the
wheel and the tire, nothing there, just a huge gash in the tube.I also noticed that the edge had come off, so
my guess is that the tire slipped off, which moved the tube and caused it to
rub and rip).I didn’t know how long we
were there, but my garmin kept telling me it was about to go into power save
mode, and I kept having to wake it up…awesome.I suggested I walk towards the start of the course, and the volunteer
called again.And again.

Finally, he tried calling someone else, and guess what!Another biker had accidentally dropped his
little kit of spare stuff on the course, so this other volunteer had it… the
guy that was helping me ran off to get it, and in another few minutes, I finally
had a tube and CO2.The tube looked
huge, for some reason.We ignored that,
and stuffed it onto my wheel anyway.

As I was watching the guy change my tube, I saw a spectator run
over.She must have seen me, and crossed
the run course and the bike course to get to me; I briefly noticed she was
decked out in USA gear.She ran up,
looked me straight in the eye, and gave me the best pep talk of my life.

“Hey!You’re going to finish,
right, and that’s all that matters.You’re
a finisher.”I think I kinda smiled and
tried to nod, and she kept on going.“Really.This guy is going to get your tire changed,
and you’re going to get out there and keep on racing as hard as you can, and
you’re going to finish.This exact same thing happened to me at this
race last year.I still finished, and I
ended up getting a roll-down spot on Team USA, and I ended up winning at World
Championships.So you are going to get
back on that bike, and finish, ok?Promise me.No matter what.”

Needless to say, I was kind of..stunned.In a good way.It was one thing for me to try to tell myself
to calm down and just finish the race, but the fact that someone saw me, and
came over to tell me that, really hit me.It got my head on straight again.I remembered what I was doing, took a step back, and realized how glad I
was to be there and that I was still in control of finishing.Not that I was ever aspiring (or remotely
close) to going to Worlds; the important part was that it was ok.The day wasn’t
ruined.I had 2/3 of the race still in
front of me, and I sure as heck wasn’t about to slack off and let it destroy
me.I thanked her, I was speechless but
managed to croak out a feeble “yes, yes, thank you…” and she ran back to where
she had been watching before.Whether or
not she realizes what an impact that made, I don’t know—but I do know that that
was a pivotal moment, which reminded me just how much I love the sport
itself.It was humbling, not in the
sense of being put in my place, but of seeing the character of others.Out of everything that happened that weekend,
I think those 30 seconds were the most impactful.

Shortly thereafter, my wheel was back on and I was ready to go!After profusely thanking the volunteer for
all his help, I hopped on the bike and rode up, as he shouted “go have the ride
of your life!” after me.Again, the support
of others really came through (and these were all strangers, not friends or
people who were obligated to be nice).I
carried their well wishes with me, and you better believe I didn’t slack off
the rest of the race.I was not about to
let all their help and support go unanswered.

Even so, it was demoralizing.At
this point, I was absolutely positive I was the last biker on the course, and
was worried about cutoff times (I couldn’t remember what the times were).I got past the end of the run course, and was
off alone, with just one guy that I could see in the distance in front of
me.I don’t think I ever caught him, but
I sure wanted to.We finally got to the
turn around of the first out-and-back, and as I headed back down the way we
came—I was shocked.There was actually
someone behind me.And someone else!
And..oh!So many I really am not that
terrible after all.I knew there were
all out of my age group and probably started their swim way after me, but I was
NOT the last person on the course!

Things got better after that.I
looked for Allen as we passed near the transition area again, thinking he might
be there waiting for me.I wanted to
tell him I got a flat, because I knew he would probably worry, but didn’t see
him.I figured he probably thought that
he missed me, and was probably waiting near the bike in…guess he’d just have to
wait a long time, and worry.Oops.

We went over the “big bridge.”Yeah it was, but it wasn’t terrible.It was long, but no worse than any other hills in the area.I got passed, but I also passed a couple
people.I was keenly aware that nobody
around me was in my age group, but tried not to think about that too much.If I was going to finish last in my age group,
at least I did have a reason…

The bike course was alright. Actually, the course itself was fine, it
was just the terrible Milwaukee roads that were no fun!I get it.Milwaukee gets some harsh winters, and the roads suffer.But geeeeez!Massive potholes and gaping cracks and ledges…this was really NOT the
ideal ride for someone who was finally back on the tri bike for the first time
since crashing on it.I was on high
alert, scanning everything in front of me; there were some massive metal plates
on the downhill of the bridge that were covered in rubber..helpful, but still
basically a giant speedbump.I did NOT
go barreling down.Nevertheless, I think
I navigated it all moderately well, considering I was basically terrified of going
flying off!When I say there were cracks
and holes everywhere, I mean that it was difficult to find a smooth piece of
pavement, anywhere.I basically
zig-zagged around, trying to avoid things.There was one close call with a HUGE pothole that snuck up out of
nowhere, but I managed to swerve around it juuuuust enough, just barely in
time.

At the second out-and-back turnaround, I noticed I was hearing
things.It was pretty windy, so I couldn’t
hear too well, but occasionally I could hear a strange clicking noise coming
from my rear wheel (presumably).Or
maybe I just wasn’t used to these new wheels?Then my chain started slipping some more.Some shifts that would suddenly happen five
minutes later.Progressively feeling
less and less happy on the bike, I was ready to be DONE.I have never been so uncomfortable on a bike,
and I wanted to get off the bike while it was all still in one piece!Sad.As we rounded the final corner to transition, I finally saw Allen.While navigating the craters and bumps of the
road, I yelled to him that I had gotten a flat… Sheesh.

I happily dismounted the bike, and ran to my spot.At this point, I wasn’t super worried about
taking my time.I hustled, and probably
went as fast as if I had been really trying to go fast, but I felt much more
relaxed.I wasn’t about to have a great
finish, so a couple extra seconds to grab an extra shot block was not going to
kill me!I got my shoes on, and was off.

Ironically, the run is always my favorite part of a triathlon.You can go all out, and not worry about
pacing yourself or saving anything for the next leg(s).Running is all about you and your ability (not
your ability to navigate through water and breathe, or have the most expensive equipment
or ride a bike), so this part was entirely up to me.I noticed on the bike I was getting hungry (a
30+ minute delay will do that), so I ripped off the top of a gu and slowly ate
some as I ran.I don’t think I ever
finished it, I ended up tossing it around mile 5, but it gave me something else
to focus on.

And I ran.All the speedy people
in the later waves (most wearing their Team USA or collegiate kits) went
blazing past me like I was standing still—and I was at a goo 7:30/mile for the
first couple miles, which for me is pretty darn good.But I kept my head down, and focused on
moving forward.Dumped some ice down my
shirt a couple times (a 30+ minute delay also means that much more time for the
sun to get overhead…it was HOT).I did
start seeing a few people in my age group on the run, but mostly coming back
in, while I was still on the “out” part.Nevertheless, it was good to know they would finish minutes in front of
me, not an hour ;)

I actually really enjoyed the run course.It was pretty, even though most of it was
along a road and was kinda boring-looking on the map.My quad was super unhappy, but I knew I just
had to get through 6.2 miles so I kept pushing it, and ignoring it.The run hurt, but it was also really
good.In the end, I was really happy
with my run, and finished a good 3 minutes faster than my goal time, so I was
more than thrilled about that!

Turns out, Allen actually missed seeing me at the very end, because I
told him I was hoping to shoot for about 50 minutes, if I could…and instead
finished in 47.Oh well.Finishing was strange; once I saw the timer
as I was coming to the line, it was pretty depressing.Since it started counting when the first wave
started, it was somewhere in the 5:30 time..even subtracting a couple hours to
account for my start time put me way over 3 hours, which was..depressing. Not because the time itself was depressing to
me, just knowing that I could have done so much better.On the other hand, I knew I had put together
a really good run (didn’t know my other times yet), and I knew I had finished
strong and didn’t give up when I had all my problems.

I happily took the wet washcloth and Gatorade.I was starving and thirsty and sweaty and
HOT!Someone managed to give me a medal
finally, and I turned around to hear Allen calling for me.I was really happy, but still disappointed
with everything that had happened and was super bummed that I finished wayyyy
later than I had told him I was shooting for…but he stood there calling for me
and just looked sooooo happy and gave me the biggest hug!He kept saying he was so happy and proud of
me, which I found hard to believe because, um, it kind of sucked…but
still.So nice to have him be so
cheerful about it :)

Anyway, the rest of the day and trip were good too.I started to have time to really think about
how I felt, and see my swim time (faster than I thought, whaaat?!) and later my
bike time (subtracting the big delay due to the tire, I was right on my goal
time, awesome).But aside from results,
I realized that as I was out there, knowing full well that I was very likely
going to come in dead last, not only did I go for it and race as hard as I
could—but I had fun.I still wanted
to go as hard as I could, and execute my plan.It wasn’t about getting a certain time, and it wasn’t about
placement.Sure, those are great goals
and great motivators, and a represent a quantitative way to measure success and/or
improvement..but it’s not everything.And I was really happy to realize that I love it for the sake of doing
it, regardless of the fact that, by those standards, I did “really badly.”

So that’s that.It has taken me
a long time to write all this because it was hard to figure out how to express
how it all felt.It sucked, but it was
also really, really good, and I am so thankful to have gotten a chance to get
that experience.Now, to focus on the
next things….:)